


Mark Lee Keeps Breaking Up With Me

by eosandselene



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cheating, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me AU, M/M, Minor Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Unhealthy Relationships, it’s not as miserable as it sounds I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-19
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22192117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eosandselene/pseuds/eosandselene
Summary: Mark Lee, one of the most popular guys at their uni, is Yukhei's dream guy: charming, confident, and just SO pretty. There's only one problem - he's not the best boyfriend. In fact, he's pretty bad at it.Or, Mark and Yukhei keep breaking up and getting back together. It's only a matter of time before one of them gives up.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Mark Lee Keeps Breaking Up With Me

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably have slow updates so please bear that in mind!
> 
> also, I'm so sorry to Mark and Yukhei for this, they both deserve better :(

**_Dear Anna Vice,_ **

**_My name is Wong Yukhei._ **

****

The bathroom is cramped and sticky, the product of one hundred and one over-excited first years traipsing in and out to check their make up or fix their hair. Yukhei himself is in there to make sure his tux jacket isn’t clashing too terribly with his stonewashed jeans, while Yuqi and Donghyuck fix each others eyeliner and Renjun takes a piss in one of the stalls.

****

“I’m just saying,” Donghyuck mumbles as he smudges the edges of Yuqi’s eyeliner with his thumb, “You could stand to wear some darker colours once in a while.”

****

“Not everyone wants to be a goth wannabe,” Yuqi scoffs, plucking at the loose threads in Donghyuck’s black skinny jeans.

****

From inside the bathroom stall, Renjun laughs, high and pretty like a wind chime. Donghyuck doesn’t seem so amused, and he flicks water at Renjun when he steps out of the stall to wash his hands.

****

**_I’ve been reading your advice column for four years, since back when it was just on your blog and not in any magazines or recommended on vogue. And so has my mum! We both really enjoy reading your advice, especially your family stuff._ **

****

The Easter Ball is a tradition at their university. It’s almost entirely populated by first years for the first couple of hours - everyone else arrives halfway through. Yukhei knows this from his cousin Kun, who graduated from the same uni last year. He’s very well versed on  _ the cool thing to do _ .

****

Donghyuck and Renjun are both entirely unfussed by the idea of  _ the cool thing to do _ and that’s how they end up waltzing in the corridor to the echo-y sound of Come On Eileen reverberating from the main hall.  He and Yuqi watch on, fondly, herding them towards the main hall.

“Where’s Mark?” Yuqi asks suddenly, as if she's only just noticed there's a boyfriend-shaped hole missing from their group, and something stutters to a halt in Yukhei’s heart.

****

He checks his phone; nothing. Mark was supposed to be here by now. “He’ll be here soon!” Yukhei insists. He doesn’t know if it’s true - Mark has a habit of saying he’ll do something and then doing the opposite - but Yuqi smiles at him anyway, soft and pityingly. ”Okay,” she says.

****

**_I am twenty years old, a first-year in university (I took a gap year) and I’m an oldest child. I like spicy food, but I’m not a big fan of sweet things. I’m a good kisser, I think._ **

****

He doesn’t exactly give up on seeing Mark but it’s still a surprise when, at a quarter past nine, he ducks underneath Donghyuck’s arm and latches onto Yukhei. He’s  _ beautiful _ . His black hair shines against his skin and his leather jacket gives him a shiny, bad boy aura. His smile is a knife-edge, sharp and sparkling.

****

He looks just as pretty as the day they met, at a uni open day. Mark had been helping out at the maps and directions stall and Yukhei had gotten ‘lost’ six times, only two of which were deliberate.

****

Renjun, Donghyuck and Yuqi peel off from him wordlessly. They don’t leave, but they’re definitely giving him and Mark space.

****

**_For almost the past ten months, I’ve been in love with a boy named Mark Lee. Which is the hardest thing I’ve ever been._ **

****

“Where were you?” He asks, and Mark’s smile fades.

****

“What does that mean?” he asks.

****

“Nothing.” Yukhei mumbles. He’s been waiting for this day for almost six months, since late September when the semester one event list dropped. He’s not going to let Mark being late ruin this for them. “I was just waiting for you.”

****

“I told you I would meet you here.” Mark snaps.

****

“Okay, I just-”

****

“Whatever. Let’s just go dance, okay?”

****

**_Because_ **

****

They dance in the centre of the ballroom together, because of course they do. That’s what boyfriends do. They go to dances together. They spend time with one another. Never mind that Yukhei hasn’t seen Mark all week, that most of his calls have gone unanswered or that they’ve barely made eye contact since Mark got here.

****

**_Mark Lee_ **

****

Renjun and Yuqi are spinning Donghyuck around to Whitney Houston and every time one of them ends up facing Yukhei, they make a face. They all have… issues with Mark. It’s weird. Donghyuck and Renjun at least used to love him, they were constantly asking when Yukhei would bring Mark with him to meetups and parties.

****

Mark doesn’t notice their stuck out tongues and stink eyes, of course. He’s too busy singing along to The Smiths and swaying with Yukhei. He looks like an angel, even when he’s making Yukhei feel like he’s in hell.

****

**_Keeps breaking up with me._ **

****

Eventually, Yuqi gets tired of playing the third wheel to the sappy love fest that is Renjun and Donghyuck’s relationship and wanders off to the snack table to talk to her other friends. A little bit after that, Shut Up And Drive by Rihanna comes on and Renjun and Donghyuck drag each other off the floor, presumably to find a place to make out in private.

****

He and Mark stay swaying in the centre of the room, Mark’s arms around his waist. It’s… nice. He’s missed this, being in Mark’s arms. It reminds him of how he used to feel back at the beginning, before Mark ever broke up with him, back when they used to dance around Mark’s living room when his family weren’t around. They live nearby, so he lives at home and commutes to uni, just like Yukhei does. It’s something they have in common.

****

The music shifts to something more upbeat and pop-y, and Mark pulls away a little. He doesn’t know how to pull Mark back to him without seeming clingy. Part of him doesn’t even want to.

****

“Yo, Lee!” Someone calls out, and Mark whips his head around. There’s a group hanging off to the side, laughing and chugging bottles of beer. In the middle of them is a pretty brunet, with soft eyes and a sharp smile. He’s waving Mark over.

****

It’s almost humiliating how quickly Mark removes Yukhei from his grip. “Hey, Daniel,” he calls back, then leans up to press a kiss to Yukhei’s cheek. “Be right back.”

****

He watches his boyfriend leave quietly

****

Suddenly, all the people around him don’t seem like fun uni students having a blast at a dumb party. They seem like they’re choking him. Why do they all seem so  _ happy? Why can’t he be?  _

****

He wades through the people to the edge of the room. Mark will be back soon, hopefully. Maybe. Probably not.

****

**_It all happened in the space of a love song._ **

****

He’s been lounging against the wall for an embarrassingly long time when Yuqi pops up, a drink in one hand and an ice cream cone in the other. He doesn’t even bother asking where she got the ice cream from, she has a magical affinity for finding snacks.

****

“Pretty good soundtrack, this time.” She says. Not a second later, Taylor Swift’s ‘Wildest Dreams’ starts playing over the speakers, and she grimaces. “I take it back.”

****

“Hey!” He laughs, “Don’t bash Taylor Swift! She’s a lyrical genius and she’s been active in a shitty industry since she was fifteen. That takes guts!”

****

Yuqi doesn’t dignify that with a response

****

“Hey - have you seen Mark?” he asks.

****

Yuqi looks around her calmly, as if Mark is going to just pop up out of nowhere at the side of the dance floor, then shakes her head. “No, sorry.” 

****

**_A crappy karaoke video. Starring me, a stupid person._ **

****

“Cool. I’ll be - I’m just going to find Mark,” he says and Yuqi calls a goodbye after him.

****

Mark isn’t by the drinks table, or anywhere on the dance floor. He’s not in the ground or first-floor bathrooms or the smoking patio. Snap maps says he hasn’t left the campus, but that doesn’t narrow the search down much.

****

**_Verse. Chorus._ **

****

He finds Renjun and Donghyuck pretty easily. They’re sitting Donghyuck’s head on Renjun’s lap, on the landing outside the first-floor lounge, just up from the main hall where everyone else is. From here the music sounds hollow and echo-y but that doesn’t stop either of them from singing along to it at the tops of their voices. Occasionally Renjun will lean down and they’ll kiss, softly, unbothered by the people who walk past on their way to the bathroom.

****

Yukhei isn’t jealous, but it’s hard to say he doesn’t wish he had what they had. He’s known Renjun as long as he’s known Yuqi, for years and years, and he’s never seen him connect with anyone as quickly or as thoroughly as he connected with Donghyuck. It’s like they’re on a wavelength no one else can tune into, off in a world of their own. Simply meant to be.

****

He doesn’t want to interrupt them, but it’s been ages now and he still can’t find Mark. “Renjun, Donghyuck,” he calls up the stairs and squashes the guilt when they spring apart. “Have either of you seen Mark?”

****

Donghyuck frowns and shrugs, but Renjun points up the stairs to the second floor. “Yeah, he passed by with a group of people like, twenty minutes ago.” 

****

Donghyuck frowns even harder. “He did? What was I doing?”

****

“It was in the middle of Africa by Toto, so I’m pretty sure you were vibing,” Renjun says, and Donghyuck  _ ahhh _ s and nods as if that makes sense. “Anyway Xuxi, I haven't seen Mark since and most of them have come back down now so he must still be up there.”

****

He nods in thanks and jogs up the stairs. Behind him, he hears his friends giggling to each other.

****

There aren’t too many rooms on the second floor, and most of them are offices, and so are locked, so he only has to check a few rooms before - 

****

**_Bridge. Hook. Refrain._ **

****

Mark is in the room. For a second Yukhei doesn’t recognise him, because this is not the Mark who left him on the dance floor. This is the Mark he sees at night, shirtless and sweaty and pinning him to the bed. Only, it’s not Yukhei under him. It’s not Yukhei  _ over _ him. Yukhei isn’t in there with him at all. Instead, there’s a total stranger in there with him, kissing him, being kissed by him. This is the cruellest punishment, the seventh circle of hell. And the worst part?

****

He’s been here before.

****

**_Of course, I handled the whole thing really, really well._ **

****

He doesn’t wait to see what happens next. He runs, back down the stairs and out of the building, as fast and as far as he can.

****

He can hear Renjun and Donghyuck calling after him but he pays them no attention. Yukhei doesn’t want to be here right now, underneath the room where Mark is. His heart has been ripped straight out of his chest.

****

God,  _ why _ had he thought this time would be different? People - or at least, people like Mark - don’t just change. If he cheats on you three times, he’ll cheat on you a fourth. If he breaks your heart once, you can’t trust him to fix it. Yukhei feels dumb.

****

He doesn’t end up getting far, only out of the Main Hall and onto the library steps opposite. He hates himself for it but a part of him is still hoping that Mark noticed him, and has chased him out to apologise.

****

He doesn’t, because of course he doesn’t. Renjun does, though. Yukhei doesn't even notice him until there are arms around his shoulders and he’s being pulled into his best friend’s chest.

****

“God, I’m so stupid,” He mumbles between sobs. Renjun just pulls him closer. There are hands on his back and in his hair, petting at him gently and he doesn’t have to look to know that Yuqi and Donghyuck have joined them. Yuqi makes soft cooing sounds as she runs her fingers through his hair. She’s probably messing it up completely, but Yukhei’s boyfriend is two stories up in the building opposite, kissing someone who isn’t him and everyone else whose opinion he cares about it here, with him.

****

“It’s okay,” Yuqi says. “It’s okay, It will be okay.”

****

It’s the only noise in the cold, dark night; Yukhei’s sobs and Yuqi’s soft comfort. They’ve done this before but every time feels like the first time.

****

**_You don’t need the details, do you? Let’s just say there was some post-dance debacle._ **

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/starrydonghyuck)


End file.
